Third Wave
by pixelblur
Summary: A look at how the events leading up to North's death just before the Recovery One miniseries coul have played out. Obvious warning for character death on North's part and some mild swearing on South's part.


A/N: So they didn't go into North's death in season 10 like I'd hoped, but they already crammed so much stuff into there that I doubt there would have been space for it. As it is, I took it upon myself to write a piece of fanfiction covering it. This piece is named Third Wave, after the Trocadero song on their latest album.

Originally, this was going to be a comic, but I was disheartened after several setbacks, randomly deleted files, and not being able to draw backgrounds or explosions, so I settled on this. Hope you enjoy!

.:':. .:':. .:':.

"SOUTH, RUN!" North grabbed his stumbling sister by the elbow, steering her away from the explosion. They dashed towards cover, more grenades sending pieces of shrapnel and superheated air in their direction.

They hadn't been ready for this. South had a battle rifle with about half a clip left. North's own rifle only had one bullet remaining. Being on the run as they were, it hadn't been easy to restock on ammunition, and with most of the patrols they ran into they ended up using more ammo than they gained.

"North, I'm scared," Theta's voice quavered, his holographic projection jittering in and out of existence. Even though, of course, there was no actual physical contact, Theta looked like he was clinging to North's shoulder. "Why's Maine trying to hurt us?"

The blonde glanced over his shoulder. He could just make out the bulky white armour and domed golden helmet that was Maine through the smoke from the grenades he'd been launching at them. "I don't know. It'll be alright, though, we'll get away."

South rounded on him angrily, even as they both ducked instinctively to protect themselves from the flying shards of debris from the ever-closer grenade hits. "You know fucking why! Don't try and protect his _feelings_!" She pointed an accusatory finger and Theta's cowering form. "He's after _you_."

Her brother batted her hand away, seizing her by the wrist. "_South_!" he shouted, the 'leave him alone, he's just a kid' implied. His grip loosened after a moment, and with his free hand, pointed to a narrow opening ahead of them. "C'mon, through here."

Both ex-Freelancers lurched around the corner, leaning against the scant shelter of a crumbling wall. South peered around the wall whilst North tried to calm Theta.

"I don't understand!" Theta hugged his arms to himself, shuffling on North's upturned palm. "Why does he want me, North? Why is he trying to hurt us?"

North knelt on one knee, bringing the AI level with his visor. "Don't worry, Theta. He won't hurt you."

"But what about you?!" Theta all but screeched. North hesitated just a moment too long, and Theta spiralled into a panic, his tiny form flickering like mad. "He's going to hurt you!"

Further attempts to placate the terrified AI were interrupted by South's sudden cry of, "Incoming!"

The twins ducked behind the meagre protection of the wall, bracing themselves for the blast.

"Theta, shield!" North cried, hoping he could cut through the AI's fear enough to help them. Theta wasn't so out of control that he wouldn't respond to a direct order like that - hurriedly, he threw up the bubble shield, but it was partially formed and only lasted a few seconds due to his terror. North was protected from the majority of the blast, still falling to his knees, but South was blown off her feet, landing heavily several metres away. Her battle rifle flew from her hands, clattering to the ground behind her.

Clouds of dust and smoke billowed around them as the wall was blown to pieces. North felt the urge to cough, even though he knew the filters in his helmet automatically eliminated the smoke and dust drifting through the air he was breathing. Theta, meanwhile, was absolutely beside himself.

"I'm sorry, I was scared, I'm sorry!" The AI babbled, clutching his head.

North flicked a few chunks of cement from his armour. Staggering to his feet, he tried once again to soothe Theta. "It's okay, Theta, you still did great. This is-"

Maine seemed to form out of the smoke, slashing at him with the blade of his gun. North cried out, blood welling from a shallow cut across his midsection, undersuit torn. He scrambled backwards, clutching his stomach, knowing he had been lucky not to receive a more serious wound. Holding his weapon in one hand, Maine swung at North with the other, catching him neatly on the jaw. The smaller soldier went soaring. Despite knowing that Theta could come to no physical harm, North still instinctively curled himself around the little pink-and-purple form in his hands. He rolled several times before coming to a sudden stop against a fallen piece of masonry, the breath knocked out of him. Blearily, his HUD flashing all kinds of warnings at him, he watched as Maine prowled towards him, whispering AI appearing around his head like so many devils-on-the-shoulder.

"North! North, get up!" Theta pleaded, waving his fists ineffectually at North's chest piece, as if determination alone could make him solid enough to actually bang his balled hands against the armoured plate. The purple armour shifted as North attempted to rise, only for the Meta to stamp a single heavy boot on his stomach, sending him back to the ground. North roared in pain as flecks of dirt and stone were ground into his wound. He tried to push the foot away, but he was too disoriented.

North remembered how he and the other members of Project Freelancer had jokingly nicknamed Maine's acquired weapon as the 'Knifle'. He'd never expected to have it pointed directly at him.

North swallowed dryly, forcing himself not to close his eyes as he stared into the face of his death. He would not die like a coward.

The Meta reloaded his gun slowly, toying with his prey, his AIs swirling and muttering around his head. Theta had curled up into a ball in his palm, sobbing in distress.

_This is it_, North thought dimly.

South stirred groggily, but silently. It took her a few seconds to take in North's situation and realise that her gun had fallen only a metre or so behind her. If she could grab it, maybe hit Maine a few times, he might be wounded enough that they'd stand some sort of a chance-

She froze as he let out a rattling, inhuman growl and turned towards her. _You idiot, you must have made some sort of noise_, she chastised herself. The battle rifle was too far away for her to reach it and shoot Maine before he blew her up.

"No... South..." North breathed, struggling agonisingly slowly to his feet, his rifle still trapped under his body. Maine ignored him and approached his sister.

Her heart slammed in her chest as he loomed over her. "W-wait!" she cried, fear cracking her voice. "What's the point in killing me? North has the same armour enhancement as me, and I don't even an AI! You won't gain anything extra from going after me!"

Sigma stepped forward, confident in his superiority. "You have a valid point." He peered at her visor, as if trying to determine her expression. "But what's to stop you from trying to attack us once we're busy with your brother?"

South let out a harsh bark of laughter. "Are you fucking kidding me? I have next to no ammo, and no one helping me but myself. No way I'd go up against Maine willingly, even if he _didn't_ have so many AIs!"

The flames curling around Sigma's form flared briefly. "Fair enough. And fighting you will only give your brother chance to escape." He smirked. "Farewell, South. We _will_ see you again."

Horrified at her sudden treachery, North sagged against the wall he had been using to pull himself up as South scrambled to her feet. She glanced at him before returning a wary gaze to the hulking mass of white armour with the big gun. Even though North couldn't see her face, he could tell that the small look she had just given him was a plea for forgiveness. He could always read her like a book - her rushed panic in the twitching of her fingers, her self-loathing for essentially betraying him in the slump of her shoulders. His eyes softened. "Stay safe, kiddo."

_At least one of us will get out of this alive_, he thought as they both dashed in opposite directions, South scooping up her battle rifle as she ran. Maine gave chase immediately, barrelling towards North like an enraged bull.

Sprinting around a corner, North told Theta to reactivate the energy shield, but with a smaller radius so as to use less power. Though still terrified, Theta complied, setting up the translucent field in a tight circle around his assignee. "Come on, Theta, we can lose him," North assured him, vaulting over a short ridge. He stifled a grunt as his shifting muscles stretched his injury. Another grenade sent chunks of rock flying at them, only to impact on the shield, sending ripples across its surface.

The field flickered for a moment. "North, please, I don't wanna leave you, don't let him take me!"

"I won't," North replied strongly, taking a left turn, then an immediate right. "I promise."

The Meta veered around the corner into the passage that North had just disappeared through. He swung his head slowly from side to side, trying to figure out which of the pathways North had taken. Eyes narrowed, Sigma strode forward. "He will have taken the first right. Get him!" The Meta growled in assent and charged ahead.

North, meanwhile, had pulled his rifle from his back, fervently wishing he had more ammunition. _Well, better make this one count_, he thought grimly. As Maine rounded the corner, North took immediate aim and shot him in the throat.

He closed his eyes briefly. _I'm sorry, Maine._

Blood bloomed from the Meta's neck, and he reeled back, automatically clutching at the wound. The walls echoed with his raw scream of pain. North's sense of bittersweet relief was short-lived as the Meta recovered himself, breath rattling in his throat, seeming more enraged than mortally wounded.

"Come, Agent North!" Sigma called, seeming amused. "You should know that a bullet through the throat wouldn't stop Agent Maine." The empty rifle, now dead weight, dropped from North's unresponsive hands. He ran again, Sigma's voice resounding after him. "What with all the strength of his body, fuelled by the power of three AIs and multiple armour abilities..." The AI's face hardened, his tone a frosty contrast to his fiery appearance. "Why do you continue to fight us, when you know you will lose?"

Sigma's voice boomed around North, projected by Maine's armour. He could sense Theta descending into a deep panic, and tried to emanate calming thoughts towards the AI, pushing aside his own despair. The shield waned for a moment, but then held, which North took to meaning his attempts had been at least partially successful.

"Give up now, and you can still walk away from this!"

North ignored Sigma. "You're doing great, Theta."

"Just hand over Theta and your shield generator, and we can all go on with our lives," Sigma urged.

"I'm not letting you take him!" North shouted over his shoulder, temper getting the better of him. It would be his downfall - literally.

"North, look out!" Theta shrieked. For the moment North had his head turned, he had continued running, not noticing the steep incline just before him. He whipped his head around, skidding to a halt and teetering at the edge, trying to regain his balance. Maine fired off another grenade, and whilst North's shield prevented projectiles from hitting him, they did not eliminate all of the concussive force caused by an explosion. The push was enough to send him tumbling down the slope. North tucked in his arms and legs instinctively around the gash on his abdomen, armour clanking against the ground with every bounce. Theta screamed in panic, the shield dropping. As the ground levelled out, North's rolling slowed until he came to a rest at the lip of a cliff, his arm and head dangling out into nothingness. With a hoarse cry, he scrambled back from the verge. He could hear Maine pounding down the incline. Groaning, he stumbled to his feet, nearly doubled over and clutching at his midsection. Theta clung to his shoulder, hastily throwing the shield back up. Maine snarled and hacked at the shield with his blade, then when that proved ineffective, stood back and emptied the clip of his gun. North fell to the ground, covering his head as the air filled with explosive debris and waves of displaced air, but this time the shield held.

"I'm not letting you take him," North repeated firmly.

"We're not going to take him," Sigma replied. "He will come with us, with or without your consent." The Meta realised that it would take too long to break through the shield with brute force alone and skulked restlessly at its perimeter, trusting his AI to break down the barrier for him. North clambered slowly to his feet, eyes following Maine's relentless pacing.

Sigma focused his gaze on his brother. "Theta, why don't you come with us?"

"I'm not leaving North!" Theta's thin voice was on the verge of cracking. "You'll kill him!"

Sigma shook his head sadly. "We don't want to kill North. We only want you, and his shield generator. Come with us now, and you can save North. He doesn't have to die here."

Theta seemed torn, glancing from North to his fellow fragment. "I don't want you to die," he whispered, snuggling his visor against North's shoulder. Distracted by his conflicted emotional responses, Theta let the field falter and drop.

The Meta saw an opportunity and took it. Pulling his sidearm from his waist, he shot North three times in the chest. North let out a strangled cry and fell backwards, narrowly avoiding toppling over the edge of the cliff as he hit the ground.

"NO! NORTH!" Theta wailed, his projection crawling on top of North's ruined chest plate.

"We gave you a way out, Agent North," Sigma murmured. The Meta slowly lowered his weapon. "You should have taken it."

"North, please get up, I didn't mean to let it get through, please, I got distracted, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" Theta gabbled, on his hands and knees.

Blood burbled in North's mouth as he replied, his speech halting due to pain. "Not... Not your fault, Theta… you… you did great…" He mustered a smile, even though the child-like AI couldn't see his face. His tone was kind, only faintly tinged with the hopeless defeat he felt. "Why don't you go with your brothers now?"

"Yes, come with us, Theta." Sigma added eagerly. "We'll protect you."

North lifted a leaden arm, clumsily cupping the small figure on his chest. "Don't... Don't miss me too much, alright?" he told him in undertone. Theta stubbornly tried to ignore what North was saying, what was happening to him. The AI simply kept screaming the word 'no' over and over, louder and louder, as if denying it strongly enough would change the truth.

The dying man coughed, blood overflowing from his mouth and his wounds. Even though every word caused him agony, he spoke as loudly as he dared to the soldier in white. "Hey Maine... Take care of Theta for me, okay?" He coughed again, blood flecking the inside of his visor, further obscuring his darkening vision. "He gets scared easily."

His chest heaved with exertion, then was still.

"...North?" Theta asked cautiously, fearfully. There was no response.

It took him several long moments to realise that North was gone.

"NO!" Theta reached forward, grasping futilely at the clasps that held North's helmet on, his ethereal fingers slipping through them on every attempt. "North, come back, please come back, you can't leave me, you can't leave, you promised!" His voice rose to a shriek. "You _promised_!"

Sigma disappeared from his post by the Meta's shoulder and knelt beside the younger fragment. "I'm sorry it had to go like this, Theta."

Theta shook his shoulder violently to rid himself of the flame-wreathed AI's insubstantial touch. Their forms meshed and went through each other without resistance. "No you're not! You _murdered_ him! Please," he whispered brokenly, shoulders hunched and staring at the bullet holes below him. "Just leave me alone."

"Don't be like that." Sigma cajoled, gesturing back to the yellow and blue AIs standing either side of the Meta's head, stock still like sentinels. "We care about you, Theta." He grinned to himself as Theta's sobs quietened, his shoulders losing their tension. "You can trust us," he continued smoothly. "We can make the pain of it all go away."

"Y-you can?" Theta sniffled, his tone approaching hopeful. He missed North already. He didn't want to feel like this. He wanted it to go away.

Smiling gently, Sigma stood, offering a hand out to Theta in a placating gesture. "Yes. We can. After all, we are your brothers." Theta climbed to his feet, casting a forlorn gaze at the blank visor of his fallen friend. He turned away and nuzzled into Sigma's side, not wanting to process the image of blood any more. Unseen by Theta, the soft smile on Sigma's face stretched into a triumphant grin.

"You belong with us."

.:':. .:':. .:':.

A/N: Well, there you are - my take on how North was killed. I really think that there's more to South than a lot of people give her credit for: like many, I dislike South because she got North killed, who remains one of my favourite characters. However, few seem to appreciate that betraying her brother would have been extremely difficult for her to deal with, and that she would only have done so in a situation where she was convinced that they would both die if she didn't do something. And because I'm sure someone will ask: I very purposely switched between calling the Meta, the Meta or Maine. I feel that North would still view him as a man, trapped by his AI and struggling to break free, rather than the monstrous entity he had become, and as such, still thinks of him as Maine. Sigma would know this, and play upon the fact. I referred to him as the Meta when he's surviving improbably (even though he did that pretty well without enhancements anyway), or acting to advance his/his AI's goal of recreating the Alpha.

Until next time,

-pixel.


End file.
